Ice Dreams Part 1 (6 page)

She felt her heart race again and started to feel overwhelmed. She didn’t want to show how naïve she was but her nerves got the best of her. “Do you mind if we head back to Carter’s?”

Hunter looked into her eyes as if he tried to read her thoughts. “Of course not, I will get you home.”

They smiled at each other. He grabbed her hand and led her back towards the truck. She felt guilty about ending their evening so early.

When they reached the wall, she blushed as she thought about her first kiss. She grabbed for her sandals and slid them back on. She quickly stood up, not realizing that Hunter was right in front of her. Her hands fell against his chest, she felt as his heartbeat raced. He looked down at her and their eyes locked on each other. She parted her lips to say something to him but it was too late, his lips covered hers quickly and she lost her thoughts.

His arms tightened around her waist as her arms slid up around his neck. She pressed her body instinctively against his and felt his response to her. He deepened the kiss more as she felt herself pressed against the small wall.

She pulled back and took a deep breath. She couldn’t find the right words that she wanted to say to him but she could hear his deep breaths and knew that he experienced the same response that she had.

“I’m sorry,
Madison. I just had to do that again.”

She looked from underneath her lashes and smiled at him. “I never knew a kiss could be like that.”

“It's normally not but you keep surprising me. Come on, let’s get you home.”

As they pulled into Carter’s driveway,
Madison noticed that Carter left the porch light on for her. Hunter hopped out of the truck and walked over to open her door.

“Thank you for a wonderful evening and I’m sorry that it had to end so early,”
Madison explained as he walked her towards the house.

“It was my pleasure and I hope you realized that I’m a good listener, Madison. I’m fascinated by you and tonight was just the beginning, I hope.”

He leaned in slowly and was about to kiss her when the front door swung open and Carter walked out. “Hey Guys.”

Madison
pulled away as she heard Alicia yell at him from inside. “Carter, your timing is amazedly perfect as always.”

“Just making sure my little sister was doing ok.”

“I’m fantastic, Carter. I was just about to ask Hunter a question.”

“What’s up?” Hunter asked as he grabbed her hand.

Madison closed her eyes and tried to gain some confidence. “Would you like to escort me to my birthday party tomorrow?”

She felt his body press into hers as his arms grabbed the handrail behind her. He leaned towards her ear so she could only hear him. “
Madison, open your eyes. We need to work on that confidence of yours, I love seeing those big brown eyes as they look back to me and as for your question, I would be honored to be your date.”

Madison
smiled as she ran her hands into his long hair and kissed him good night. She could hear Carter as he cleared his throat behind them.

“Good Night, Hunter,"
Madison whispered as she smiled and went into the house.

CHAPTER FIVE

Madison woke up with a smile on her face and could swear that she heard birds chirping outside of her window. She replayed her date with Hunter over and over in her mind until she fell asleep. Jessie called her first thing in the morning and Madison re-lived her first kiss again.

Alicia also wanted all the details as soon as
Madison crawled out of bed. She enjoyed being the center of attention. Her birthday party started at five and was told to wear something comfortable but warm. She asked Alicia if she could help her apply her makeup again and for the first time Madison felt like she was a part of a real family. After she dressed and was ready to leave, she headed downstairs and found Carter on the phone.

“Mom it’s her birthday, be nice to her.”

Madison sighed as Carter turned around and handed her the phone.

“Hello Mother, how are you?”

“I’m doing well. How’s your day?” she asked.

“It’s been wonderful so far. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for me.”

“Carter told me that he’s throwing you a party today,” her mother said very nonchalantly.

“I’m very excited about it.”

“I hope you decided to stay at his house and not disturb him at the all star game. He needs to focus on the game and not all the distractions around him.”

“I haven’t decided yet but he did invite me to tag along with him.”

“He’s just being nice. Stay there. I need to run, bye.”

Madison
handed the phone back to her brother. “Let me guess, she didn’t actually say happy birthday to you.”

She shook her head. “Nope but I’m used to that though. Do you really want me to go with you tomorrow?”

“Of course I do, why? What did she say?” Carter sighed.

“It’s nothing. Let’s just enjoy today and I will make up my mind about tomorrow this evening.”

Carter hugged her, “Happy birthday, Maddy.”

**********************

As they drove through town, Madison got more excited. Alicia told her that Hunter was going to meet them there but that’s all she had managed to get out of them. She smiled from ear to ear when they pulled in front of the local ice rink. “Are you guys taking me ice skating?”

“It was Hunter’s idea,” Carter said.

“Do you like it?” Alicia asked.

“It’s fantastic! Oh my God, let’s go inside.”

As they walked inside, she heard, “Surprise!” She looked around and spotted Alicia’s parents and a lot of strangers which she assumed were friends of Alicia’s and Carter’s. Then she spotted those familiar green eyes as Hunter approached her.

“Happy birthday,
Madison,” Hunter said as he leaned down and lightly kissed her lips.

“Thank you and thank you for all of this, it’s perfect,” she said as tears formed in her eyes.

Hunter wiped her tears away. “Please don’t cry.”

Madison
laughed. “I will be fine.” She turned back to Carter and hugged him. “Thank you.”

“I’m just sorry that it took us so long to give you a proper party,” Carter answered.

She smiled as Alicia grabbed her hand and introduced her to her family and friends. She was overwhelmed with the well wishes and presents that she received from people that she didn’t even know.

“Ok everyone, we have the rink until seven, so you can grab your skates and don’t break your ankle!” Alicia called out to everyone.

Madison looked around and spotted Hunter as he talked with one of Alicia’s friends. She walked over and touched his arm.

“Hey
Madison, how’s the party?” He asked.

“I’m overwhelmed but it’s so fantastic. But, I wanted to skate. Did you want to come with me?”

“Absolutely, let’s go.” Hunter grabbed her hand and they laced up their skates. Once they were ready, he reached for her hand again and led her out onto the ice.

It took her a moment to familiarize herself with the process of skating again but in no time she kept up with Hunter. The music played overhead and she skated around the rink with him next to her. She kept glancing up at him and smiled to herself. She felt lucky to have him next to her as every woman in the rink glanced at him as he skated by.

He quickly turned as he pulled her into an embrace. His dark eyes looked at her as he leaned down and lightly kissed her. She felt as if she could melt the ice just by kissing him. As he pulled away, she sighed softly. “I’m really happy I waited for my first kiss because you are really good at it.”

Hunter threw his head back as he laughed. “You have nothing to compare it to, that’s what I love about it!”

They both shared a laugh as she cuddled against his chest. She whispered softly, “Thank you for all of this.”

Hunter kissed the top of her head. “You are very welcome. Thank you for taking your vacation down here. I’m so happy that we were introduced.”

As the birthday celebration continued, Madison was surprised by all the love that was shown towards her. Alicia revealed the beautiful birthday cake and Madison couldn’t help but cry again. They designed a specialty cake for her. It had layers of purple fondant, which was her favorite color and a very large twenty one sat upon the top layer with two huge candles.

Carter wrapped his arm around her. “Are you ok?”

“Just overwhelmed, I always wanted something like this but I can’t believe it actually happened.”

Carter smiled at her and handed her a card. “Here’s my gift for you.”

“Carter, you didn’t have to buy me anything. This party was enough.”

“Don’t be silly,” he said as he put the envelope in her hand.

Madison smiled at him as she opened his card. She noticed that Hunter slowly made his way to her as she opened the envelope. She pulled out the card and started to read his message to her.

Maddy,

I will never be able to repair the damage that my hockey career did to your childhood but I’m going to try. When you are ready, I will pay for your college education. I want you to follow your dreams and be successful. I believe in you and know that you will make this world a better place.

Carter

Madison
stared blankly at the card. She couldn’t process the information that was just presented to her. Was he really going to pay for her education? How did he even know that she wanted to go to school?

Her eyes quickly found Hunter’s as he smiled at her. The light bulb went off in her head. He had told Carter about their private conversation. She couldn’t control her breathing and quickly started to hyperventilate. She bent over and placed her hands on her knees.

“Madison? Are you ok?” Carter asked as he put his arm around her. Before Madison closed her eyes and blacked out she saw Alicia running towards her.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she started to open her eyes again. She laid on top of a hard surface but not sure where she was. She could hear Carter in the background as she blinked a few times.

She softly whispered. “What happened?”

“You passed out, Maddy. Are you ok?” Carter said grabbing her hand.

As she opened her eyes again, she could see Alicia standing next to Carter and she tried to sit up.

“Wait Maddy. Are you sure you are ok?”

“Yes, I just need to get some fresh air,” Madison said as she quickly realized that she was laying on one of the tables.

“I will take a walk with you,” Carter said as he reached for her.

Madison saw Hunter as he rushed to her side and looked at her. “I can take her, Carter.”

Madison
shook her head as she glanced at Hunter. “I would like to speak with Carter if that is that ok?”

Hunter nodded. “Of course it is.”

Carter led her outside and started to walk down the sidewalk. Madison explained, “I can’t accept your gift, Carter.”

He frowned at her and sighed, “Why not? It was because of me that our parents didn’t give you the option to go to college and I want to make that right.”

Madison stopped in her tracks as her head began to hurt again. “Carter, I love you. Yes, I had a crappy childhood and missed out on everything that was important to a teenage girl but it’s not your responsibility to make things right. It’s our parents who didn’t give me a chance at anything. They had a choice and they chose to give everything to you and give me nothing. It took me years to come to the conclusion that it was their fault. I can’t blame you for something that you didn’t have any control with.”

Carter reached for her arm and stopped her. “I have to be honest. Before I met Alicia, I lived in a world that revolved around me. I had blinders on and I didn’t care who got hurt just as long as I got my way. I blame our parents for that, Maddy. Because they did everything for me, I was just used to getting my way. When it wouldn’t go my way, I would turn into this horrid person who no one wanted to be around. Alicia was the first person who I allowed in and she helped me realize how life should be lived.”

Madison smiled at him. “I saw the change in you right away after you found her. I’m grateful for her because she gave us a relationship but Carter, I don’t want you to feel like you owe me something. This is why I never wanted to tell you that I thought about going to college. I really blame this all on Hunter.”

Carter sighed. “Please don’t be mad at him. We talked about what we should get you for your birthday and he mentioned your thoughts on school. I told Alicia that it was something that I could do for you. She told me that you may act negatively towards it but I didn’t care. Maddy, I wanted to give this to you.”